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“It’s a great place to come and play cricket, I absolutely feel safe,” says the PSL veteran

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2022England’s decision to cancel their white-ball tour of Pakistan last October made “zero sense”, according to Alex Hales.”That decision to cancel that tour made absolutely no sense,” Hales told . “Especially after Pakistan came to England during Covid and helped out the ECB massively. So for them to cancel that tour made absolutely zero sense to me.”It was only a short tour, only a few T20s so it made no sense.”Related

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England had pulled out of a long-scheduled T20I tour of Pakistan weeks before it was to take place, citing a vague mix of reasons from player welfare to security.Hales has more experience of playing in Pakistan than most English cricketers. He’s now in his fifth season at the PSL and has played in Pakistan in four of those, including two seasons disrupted by the pandemic. He’s in a second stint with Islamabad United, having won the league once with Karachi Kings in the past, and he has been one of the league’s standout openers, averaging over 44 at a strike rate nearing 150. This season, he started out with a 54-ball 82* in Islamabad’s first match, against Peshawar Zalmi.He’s also part of a 20-plus contingent of English players involved with the six franchises this season.In the last 10 years only two English cricketers – Samit Patel and Bilal Shafayat – have played more cricket than Hales in Pakistan (all of Shafayat’s cricket was in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy).”I’ve been here four or five times now and get looked after really well,” Hales said. “Every time we come here, the people are very hospitable and cricket is always really good. The fans here are crazy for it. So, it’s a great place to come and play cricket, I absolutely feel safe.”The ECB and PCB have since renegotiated that tour and England are now scheduled to tour Pakistan twice later this year. They first arrive in September for a seven-match T20I series, in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup in Australia. Following that tournament, they visit again for a three-Test series in November-December.Hales’ chances of being part of the T20I leg of those tours are slim, though he thinks he is playing the best cricket of his career at the moment.”I’m just enjoying my cricket a lot more now,” he said. “I’m into my 30s now so I guess I’ve matured over the last few years away from the game. I feel like I’m playing the best standard of cricket I [have] played in my life and hopefully, I can keep up for the next few years.”I am just enjoying myself and scoring as many runs as possible and that’s the way I’m going to get back into the England squad, just to keep knocking on the door with runs is certainly something I’ve done over the last couple of years.”I think my stats are right up there with the best in the world. So, you know, hopefully, that chance comes around again.”

“We’re not there yet, but we’re on the journey to getting towards prize money parity”

Annesha Ghosh29-Mar-20224:42

Allardice: The tournament has been spectacular

Bringing parity in prize money for “finishing positions of teams” in women’s and men’s world tournaments will be part of the governing body’s discussions around the next eight-year cycle of women’s events, stretching from 2024 through 2031, the ICC CEO Geoff Allardice has said.Speaking from Wellington, Allardice made the assertion about a potential review of the prize money for women’s world events when asked why the winners of the ongoing 2022 women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand would take home roughly just a third of the sum won by the champions of the most recent men’s ODI World Cup, held in 2019 in England.Related

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“One of the things that we did at the start of the cycle,” Allardice said on Tuesday, ahead of the 2022 World Cup semi-finals, “was we projected through this event cycle – most of the ICC’s finances are done with an eight-year view – and what we’ve been trying to do over this cycle is bridge the gap between the women’s prize money and the men’s prize money.”We are about to start discussions around the next cycle and one of the starting points for that discussion is going to be trying to get parity for the finishing positions of teams in women’s events and comparable men’s events. So we’re not there yet, but we’re on the journey to getting towards prize money parity.”

T20 the chosen format for inaugural U-19 women’s World Cup

• The first ever Under-19 women’s World Cup, scheduled for January next year ahead of the 2023 women’s T20 World Cup, will be held in the T20 format. The host of the U-19 tournament is expected to be finalised at an ICC board meeting in a week’s time, Allardice said.

• “[For] the next event cycle from 2024 to 2027, the events have been identified [and] the hosts will probably be confirmed in July,” he added. “We are seeking expressions of interest for hosting those events and we expect those submissions to come in July and a decision will be taken at our annual conference in late July.”

The ICC had doubled the prize money for the winners of eight-team 2022 women’s ODI World Cup to US$1.32 million, and brought about a 75% increase on the overall prize money pot which stands at $3.5 million, $1.5 million more than the 2017 edition, which England had won.Yet, the total prize pool of this World Cup is still $6.5m less than the $10m given away at the 10-team 2019 men’s ODI World Cup, where champions England won $4m while runners-up New Zealand took home $2m for making the final of that event. The two losing semi-finalists, Australia and India, walked away with $800,000 each.Though an expansion of the women’s ODI World Cup from an eight-team event to a 10-team one will happen only in 2029, and not in the 2025 edition, Allardice singled out the difference in the number teams in the two events as a reason behind the women’s winnings being less than the men’s.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“We’re coming from a long way back and we’re making progress in that [prize money disbursement] area,” he said. “In terms of where we’re at, I mean, the tournaments have got a different number of teams; they’re different lengths.”What we’re trying to come up with for the next cycle when we’ve got the opportunity to model out our finances [and] our prize money distribution afresh is being able to get a parity [and] that we will address the issues that you raise.”Allardice highlighted the “competitiveness” and “standard of play” in the league stage of the ongoing World Cup as a standout feature, describing them as testament to “the strides the teams have been taking forward over the last five years or so”. The growing visibility of the women’s game also reflected in the participation of eight cricketer-mothers in the tournament, by far the most at a single edition of a World Cup in at least two decades.Though some national boards have introduced bespoke maternity provisions for their women cricketers in the recent years, the lack of policy-making at the ICC level to foster participation of female cricketers during pregnancy and after childbirth remains, as highlighted by The Cricket Monthly, a talking point.Asked if the governing body is likely to initiate discussions on formulating directives to encourage pregnant players and mothers to continue their playing careers following the interest generated by cricketer-mothers in this World Cup, Allardice said, “It’s a good point your raise. It’s been a noticeable development in this competition.”Most of the changes and the accommodations that would be made would be at the national level, with the arrangements around the national team. We would make the arrangements around the tournaments here but the ability for mothers to be able to continue to play cricket and raise young families is something that I think each of the members is checking in their own way and it’s good to see the progress made in that area.”We’ve got a series of meetings at the end of this at the end of this tournament back in Dubai next week. And I’m sure that that will be one of the issues that will be raised at the debrief of this tournament.”

Seamer only bowled six balls in training on Wednesday due to sore elbow

George Dobell in Cape Town01-Jan-20200:37

Archer becomes injury doubt for second Test

Jofra Archer has emerged as an injury doubt for England’s second Test in South Africa.Archer, who took six wickets in the first Test, only bowled six balls in England’s training session on January 1 due to a sore elbow, raising concerns that he will not have recovered in time to play in the Cape Town Test.ALSO READ: England ‘will not be afraid’ to leave out Broad or Anderson – SilverwoodThe pitch for the Test, which starts on January 3, lacks the grass seen in Centurion and is relatively dry. As a result, England are likely to bring a spin bowler into their side. Dom Bess, the Somerset offspinner, looks in pole position to play, ahead of Jack Leach – who trained on Wednesday, but has been unwell for most of the past month – and Matt Parkinson.Jofra Archer is a fitness doubt for the second Test•Getty Images

That means that one seamer would have to miss out, with Archer’s injury suggesting he could be the most likely to do so. If he is fully recovered and fit to play – which is far from certain – the selection dilemma facing Joe Root and Chris Silverwood would probably come down to a choice between James Anderson and Stuart Broad.While Archer was expensive in the second innings at Centurion, it will be a significant blow for England if he is unavailable. He is, alongside Mark Wood, the fastest bowler in their squad and their seam attack would risk looking somewhat one-paced in his absence. The pitch is expected to prove relatively good for batting. Not only it is the first Test surface prepared by new groundsman, Ihtishaam Adams, but the local board’s finances suggest they would prefer a four or even five-day crowd.All 19 members of England’s touring party were fit enough to train, with Dom Sibley recovering quickly from the illness that has swept the camp since their arrival in South Africa.

Tim David couldn’t haul the chase across the line as Hobart Hurricanes’ season was left hanging by a thread

Tristan Lavalette20-Jan-2023A resurgent Brisbane Heat continued their charge for a BBL playoffs berth while denting Hobart Hurricanes’ chances with a pivotal 12-run victory at the Gabba.Defending 163, Heat were in the box seat after outstanding bowling from Michael Neser before surviving a late onslaught from big-hitter Tim David.Three straight wins has lifted Heat firmly into playoffs calculations, while Hurricanes are currently outside the picture after being unable to break their drought on the road.

Neser shines, Johnson holds nerve

Heat needed early wickets to defend what seemed a modest total at the traditionally batting-friendly Gabba. Neser obliged with the wickets of struggling Ben McDermott and Zak Crawley as he produced a slew of outstanding outswingers in his two-over burst. .But with David looking ominous, Neser returned in the 15th over after Hurricanes took the power surge and he bowled well under pressure. He then bowled the penultimate over and removed Mitchell Owen, but a first ball six from Faheem Ashraf breathed life into the contest.With Hurricanes needing 18 runs off the final over, left-arm quick Spencer Johnson kept his cool against a rampant David with superb clutch bowling as Heat held on to move into the all-important top five for the first time this season.Related

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Wade, David unable to lift Hurricanes

After Hurricanes slumped to 14 for 2, they needed a spark from skipper Matthew Wade who had been in a form slump with just 68 runs in his last five innings while battling controversies.Wade made his move in the fourth over with a couple of boundaries off Johnson and unleashed trademark inventiveness against spin. But he fell for 45 in the 13th over with the burden falling on David, who put the foot down in the 18th over with two sixes off spinner Matthew Kuhnemann.His gamble to decline singles briefly paid off, but ultimately it proved too tough a task for David as Hurricanes lost their seventh straight game on the road.

Heat overcome struggles from their stars

Captain Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne haven’t been able to fire for Heat on their returns.Khawaja made 18 before spooning a return catch to Faheem, while Labuschagne lacked fluency in his 25-ball 28. Having only played one T20I in his career, Labuschagne has been out to prove his formidable longer format game can translate into success in T20 cricket.But he did little to ease the doubters with a scratchy innings, where he struggled for timing, before falling after the drinks break at a pivotal juncture.Heat appeared set to fall well short of a competitive total before solid knocks from Matt Renshaw and Sam Hain powered them to respectability.

Recalled Paris rediscovers his miserly best

Hurricanes’ attack hoped for a bounce back after being thumped by in-form Scorchers batter Aaron Hardie, who in fairness has been dismissive of most bowlers this season.It was a task made more daunting without injured spinner Paddy Dooley, who has enjoyed a breakout season to emerge as an unlikely talisman of the attack.Frontline quicks Riley Meredith and Nathan Ellis were expensive, but an outstanding performance from left-arm seamer Joel Paris helped restrict Heat. Paris has been in and out of the line-up and before this match claimed just three wickets from five innings at an economy rate of 8.56.But he conjured swing during the powerplay and then dismissed Labuschagne in the 11th over. Paris also bowled a clutch over at the death to finish with figures of 2 for 15 in four overs in his best performance of the season.Faheem was also accurate to frustrate Heat, who failed to hit a boundary for six overs at one point. Sharp catching capped a notable improvement in the field for Hurricanes.

Rana, Deepti and Gayakwad shared seven wickets between them as Thailand were skittled for 37

Sruthi Ravindranath10-Oct-2022India strolled to a nine-wicket win against Thailand in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup after spinners Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana and Rajeshwari Gayakwad shared seven wickets between them. Thailand were restricted to 37, their third-lowest total in the Asia Cup, which table-toppers India then chased down in six overs, losing just one wicket.Thailand started off cautiously, moving to just 16 for 1 at the end of the powerplay. The collapse began with Naruemol Chaiwai’s run-out in the seventh over following which Thailand lost their last eight wickets for just 17 runs.Thailand openers cautious
Smriti Mandhana, playing her 100th T20I, once again stood in for Harmanpreet Kaur – who was out of the last game with a niggle – and opted to bowl keeping the damp conditions in mind.Thailand openers Nannapat Koncharoenkai and Natthakan Chantham started off watchfully as Deepti straightaway found sharp turn, and took just one run off the first over. Koncharoenkai broke the pressure with a drive to the boundary off quick Meghna Singh, who was swapped for Renuka Singh for this match, and in the following over Chantham brought out the sweep and got a boundary against Deepti, showing positive intent.But a couple of balls later, Chantham was deceived by the turn and was bowled.The collapse begins
Koncharoenkai and Chaiwai continued their cautious approach, not taking any risks, and that resulted in Thailand playing out 27 dot balls in the powerplay. With Thailand having lost the prolific Chantham early, the onus was on captain Chaiwai to push them to a respectable total. But a quick throw from Meghna fielding at point resulted in her getting run-out for three in the seventh over.Rana struck the very next ball, sending Chanida Sutthiruang back for a duck with a delivery that turned in sharply from outside off stump. From there on, wickets fell regularly. Koncharoenkai’s carelessness resulted in her being run-out, and Gayakwad and Rana ripped through the middle order to leave Thailand reeling at 28 for 8 by the end of the 12th over.Nattaya Boochatham and Thipatcha Putthawong managed to stay at the crease for 17 balls but Deepti returned to break the ninth-wicket stand. Meghna accounted for the last wicket to fall in the 16th over.An easy win for semi-final bound India
It was a straightforward chase for India. Following a quiet first over – India scored just three runs – from Boochatham, Sabbhineni Meghana and Shafali Verma managed to hit a boundary each in the next couple of overs. Following Shafali’s departure in the third over, Pooja Vastrakar joined Meghana at the crease and steered India to 22 for 1 in five overs. They finished the match in the sixth over, hitting four fours – two each – off Putthawong to guide India to a resounding win.

Mushfiqur Rahim kept the game competitive, scoring an unbeaten 98 to rescue Bangladesh after they had slipped to 117 for 6

The Report by Mohammad Isam28-Jul-2019Sri Lanka made an auspicious start to life after the 2019 World Cup, clinching the ODI series against Bangladesh with one game to spare. They won the second ODI by seven wickets after their bowlers put together a great team effort. Their batsmen saw off tricky periods in their chase, but mostly dominated the visitors who posted 238 for 8 after deciding to bat first. It is Sri Lanka’s first series win at home in three-and-a-half years, and it came via a combination of young and experienced players.Avishka Fernando’s stunning 82 came off 75 balls, including nine fours and two sixes, and he gave Sri Lanka the perfect start in their chase. He added 71 for the first wicket with Dimuth Karunaratne and 58 for the second with Kusal Perera, before Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis steered Sri Lanka home with an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 96.Avishka jumped to life in the sixth over when he cracked Shafiul Islam for three fours in a row, punching him off the backfoot twice before pulling one high through square-leg. He struck Mustafizur Rahman for two more fours in the eighth over, before pulling him in his next over for his first six.Karunaratne’s dismissal in the 12th over hardly slowed down Avishka, who slog-swept his second six and struck two more fours. He was dropped on 77, albeit with Mosaddek Hossain making the best of a tough catch running in from deep cover. Avishka, however, fell in the next over, miscuing a Mustafizur cutter, having put Sri Lanka in a strong position.There was a slight wobble in the 25th over when Kusal Perera, having made 30, was caught at cover off Mustafizur, but Mendis and Mathews ensured a smooth ending to the chase. They played out four overs without forcing the issue, but the introduction of a part-timer, Sabbir Rahman, released the pressure, with a boundary coming off his second ball and shifting the momentum towards Sri Lanka. Mathews and Mendis soon picked up fours off Shafiul, Soumya and Mustafizur, and steadily took Sri Lanka to the target in 44.4 overs. Mathews finished unbeaten on 52 off 57 balls with seven fours while Mendis was not out on 41 off 74 balls with four fours.Mushfiqur Rahim shapes to play the ball•Associated Press

They may have had to chase far less had Mushfiqur Rahim not rescued Bangladesh from the depths of 116 for 7. Mushfiqur and Mehidy Hasan changed the course of the innings with an 84-run partnership for the seventh wicket, Mehidy playing the aggressor with six fours in his 43.Mushfiqur’s plan, meanwhile, was to bat deep, and it worked out well as he remained unbeaten on 98. He didn’t go too hard at the bowling until a 16-run penultimate over, when he hit two fours and a six off Isuru Udana. His approach was dictated by the wickets Bangladesh had lost, and a sluggish R Premadasa Stadium pitch that offered turn for the spinners.Akila Dananjaya, in his first match back for Sri Lanka, made full use of the pitch, finishing with 2 for 39. Nuwan Pradeep and Isuru Udana also took two wickets each but the home side started to flag after the 35th over, and enabled the Mushfiqur-Mehidy partnership to flourish.But in their first match after Lasith Malinga’s exit, Lahiru Kumara and Nuwan Pradeep stepped up really well. Albeit through a tame full-toss, Sri Lanka’s first wicket came when Soumya Sarkar was trapped lbw. Tamim was bowled for the sixth game in a row, dragging Udana on to his stumps in the ninth over.Mohammad Mithun and Mahmudullah fell to Dananjaya, who made the ball rip from outside off stump plenty of times in his first spell. It was also in his over that Sabbir Rahman was run out after a mix-up with Mushfiqur. Mosaddek Hossain fell to a Udana bouncer, leaving Bangladesh six down in the 33rd over.Mushfiqur’s fight managed to make it a more interesting game but ultimately Bangladesh were at least 30 runs short.

Isle of Wight fixture a triumph for Hants in more ways than one

Paul Edwards at Newport23-May-2019
Just before 11.30 on the final morning of this game the Radio Solent gazebo nearly blew away. For an alarming moment we thought the excellent Kevan James and Dave Bracegirdle would have to broadcast to the nations of the world as it were. But decency was soon restored and the gazebo’s bid for freedom was an isolated incident in any case. No one else expressed a wish to depart this paradise on the island of chines and chapels.Eight Nottinghamshire batsmen shuffled away, of course, but they were given no option by Sam Northeast’s attack, who completed their side’s 244-run victory at just gone three o’clock when Jake Ball looped a ball from Mason Crane into the covers where Aneurin Donald took the catch. Yet it was slightly ironic that the final wicket should fall to a spinner; Hampshire’s three seamers had been the chief architects of victory on this final day and it was appropriate that Kyle Abbott, Fidel Edwards and Keith Barker should each take six wickets in the match.Other spectators may identify the importance of Wednesday’s partnership between Ajinkya Rahane and Northeast in deciding the game’s outcome. Aesthetes would agree but there is surely an equally sound argument that Nottinghamshire’s failure to make any breakthroughs on the first morning when the ball was nipping around was as significant as anything else in shaping the match.Sam Northeast bats for Hampshire•Getty Images

What is plain, though, is that this was Hampshire’s third championship victory of the season and they seem set fair for honours. From an island on which Prospero might have chosen to remain they now go to Lord’s, which is possessed of its own insularity, for the Royal London Cup Final; and thence on Monday to Yorkshire, whose inhabitants would probably welcome a ten-mile Channel round its boundary as a physical expression of the spiritual detachment they have always felt in any case.To judge from their cricket over these four days, Northeast’s cricketers are ready for the battles to come. They took their time over their win on Thursday but they truly lost only one of this game’s 11 sessions, albeit they took only three wickets on the last morning. The first of these fell when nightwatchman Matt Carter failed to jab down on a straight ball from Barker and was lbw for 23 in the fifth over of the day; then Joe Clarke, having laboured over 19 balls was out for nought when he prodded at his 20th and nicked a catch to Tom Alsop off Abbott. It was a shot that could have brought Clarke nothing but grief but it was entirely consistent with the rest of his innings.The most vital wicket, though, was that of Jake Libby, who batted for over an hour with Chris Nash before he fell to the perfectly legitimate aggression of the Hampshire seamers. Away from their sport, Edwards and Abbott probably contribute to worthy charities and fuss over their neighbours’ pets. Put a cricket ball in their hands, however, and they become, like William Munny in , men “of notoriously vicious and intemperate disposition.”Such an approach is part of the fast bowler’s armoury, of course, and it was particularly evident when Edwards roughed up Nash and Libby in the half-hour before lunch. Aided by three short legs, the battering was enough to put any chap off his couscous and it worked when Libby, having paddled the ball to the fine leg boundary, prodded a catch to the vulturesque Oli Soames. That left Nottinghamshire on 131 for 5 and suddenly the main question being asked was ‘when’ not ‘if’.The answer to that query soon became clear. Abbott was brought on at the Carisbrooke End immediately after tiffin and he trapped Nash for a gutsy 60 – his third fifty of the season – with one that seemed to nip back a fair way. Any hopes that visiting supporters might have harboured that their team could kindle comparisons with Rorke’s Drift were probably extinguished four overs later when another ball from Abbott kept very low and gave Tom Moores no price whatever when it thudded into his pad. Half an hour later Steven Mullaney was bowled by a similar delivery and all that remained was to dot an “i”, cross a “t” and dismiss Stuart Broad.Yet even when this game was done, several spectators stayed at Newclose and pondered what they had just seen. And not just the cricket, you understand, but the event itself and its many triumphs. Before very long tiredness will hit the volunteers like heat in the desert. But they can put their heads down knowing they have rendered Hampshire a noble service. In the winter cricket people will look back and choose their best week of the year. Some will choose Newclose in May and they will not be far wrong. It has already been one of the songs of summer.

Troubling display from out-of-sorts quick leads to questions about wisdom of selection

Andrew Miller02-Sep-2023Heather Knight, England’s captain, admitted her young team had been handed some “humble pie” after a chastening eight-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in the second T20I at Chelmsford. However, she defended the decision to give a recall to the visibly out-of-sorts Issy Wong, whose troublingly erratic display put an extra dampener on what Knight admitted had been a case of her team “all [having] a bad day at the same time, unfortunately”.England had come into the contest brimful of optimism after an emphatic victory in the series opener at Hove on Thursday. However, faced with a sensational captain’s performance from Chamari Athapaththu, they were this time routed for 104 in 18 overs, then clubbed to defeat with a massive 40 balls to spare. Athapaththu herself led from the front with 55 from 40 balls, as Sri Lanka secured a famous maiden T20I victory over England at the tenth time of asking.”We’ve had a bad day, we’ve lost a game of cricket,” Knight said. “There’s not going to be a big inquiry about it. We haven’t played well and Sri Lanka have played very well, and given us a bit of humble pie to be honest.Related

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“Credit to Sri Lanka, but sometimes that happens in cricket,” she added. “We’ve got a very inexperienced side, a lot of guys are learning their trade, and we can identify some areas we can get better at. It’s obviously quite a humbling day, but also an opportunity for us to really home in on what we need to do better, moving forward.”England’s batting was clearly to blame for the defeat, as a succession of players succumbed to the hard lengths of Sri Lanka’s spinners – most notably the recalled Inoshi Fernando, who offered little width on a hybrid wicket and turned the screw relentlessly after a dominant powerplay.However, it was Wong’s performance with the ball that attracted the most attention after the match. She was visibly struggling with her run-up in a grim first over that contained a wide and three front-foot no-balls, and it was something of a surprise when Knight entrusted her with a second over with Sri Lanka needing just 13 runs to win. Three driven fours later, the scores were level and Wong’s comeback figures read 2-0-24-0.”It was a tough day and sometimes, when you’re exposed to that sort of pressure situation, it can make it tougher, but she’s a pretty resilient character,” Knight said. “She’s a pretty positive person, so I don’t think it will affect her too much.”Nevertheless, Wong’s display – in her first international appearance since December – was an alarming one for those who recall the ebullience and optimism of her initial England performances, particularly her three-for on her ODI debut against South Africa in July 2022, when she was being earmarked as the obvious pace-bowling successor to Katherine Sciver-Brunt.Since then, however, Wong was a notable omission from England’s T20 World Cup squad in South Africa, and this summer she has seen the likes of Lauren Filer and, latterly, Mahika Gaur leapfrog her in the pace pecking order.And though she remains a hugely marketable asset for English cricket, as evidenced by her memorable hat-trick for Mumbai Indians in the inaugural WPL in India earlier this year, Wong’s performance in this year’s Hundred – a total of 30 balls and one wicket across five matches as Birmingham Phoenix finished rock-bottom and winless – left England, as Knight put it, “looking for a bit of context for where she’s at”.”She’s been struggling a little bit for rhythm the whole summer,” Knight said. “She’s been given five balls at a time in the Hundred. She hasn’t had a chance to come back from spells, and that’s probably put a lot of pressure on how she starts.”She has been trying a few things and listening to a lot of different voices, which has probably led to her run-up issues. She didn’t really have those earlier in the summer. We know what sort of cricketer she can be, which is why we’ve backed her when she’s been struggling a little bit.”Knight added that Wong’s next step would be to work closely with Matt Mason, England women’s bowling coach, “to get back to where we know she can be”.”Issy’s got a clear plan over the next month about what she’s going to do. Matt Mason’s an outstanding bowling coach. We wanted to get a bit of context of where she’s at, and Issy wanted a bit of context of where she’s at as well. She had a few good sessions, and don’t regret playing her at all.”Overall, however, Knight insisted that the lessons that Sri Lanka had meted out at Chelmsford would be valuable ones for her young team, and far from exposing the limitations of an untested group of players, the added jeopardy of a series decider in Derby on Wednesday would be a further chance to fast-track their growth.”It wasn’t about underestimating Sri Lanka at all,” Knight said. “It was about what’s best for us as a side, moving forward. We want to expose people to international cricket, we were pretty clear that that was the goal at the start of this series, and no one was [complaining] at Hove when we were smashing 180 off 17 overs, so I wouldn’t change anything.”It’s a good lesson for youngsters that, if you’re not able to execute your skills how you want to, you’re going to get punished. Unfortunately it’s gone wrong for pretty much everyone, so it’s a bad day at the office. But we’ll go to Derby, still looking to play exactly how we want to play, and obviously it’s a series decider, which is exciting.”

The Sri Lanka captain has been lauded for letting his batsmen play their shots, but after the Colombo defeat he was critical of their lack of patience

Andrew Fidel Fernando at the P Sara Oval27-Aug-2019Rash strokes and poor decision-making cost Sri Lanka the P Sara Test. So says captain Dimuth Karunaratne.It is a difficult summary to argue against, given the nature of Sri Lanka’s demise on the fifth day in Colombo. Lahiru Thirimanne essentially ran himself out, attempting a single to midwicket off the fifth ball of the innings. Kusal Perera was caught in the slips slashing at a short delivery. Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews were both out playing defensive shots, but later, Dhananjaya de Silva was caught at second slip after advancing down the pitch.The first innings had been disappointing as well. Sri Lanka were all out for 244, before New Zealand replied with a declaration at 431 for 6.”It was a pretty good wicket in the first innings, and we didn’t execute our shots very well,” Karunaratne said. “The batsmen probably thought it was going to be a good, flat wicket and so the application wasn’t there. Even me, after getting 60 [65], I played a rash shot [in the first innings]. It was a good wicket and you have to put up a good score on it. The Kiwis batted really well. They put up huge totals and put us under pressure.”Tim Southee removes Dimuth Karunaratne•Associated Press

Freedom has been a buzzword in Karunaratne’s captaincy so far – his insistence that batsmen should be allowed to play their strokes is understood to be a key factor in the Test team’s recent success. Following this Test, though, Karunaratne was critical of his team-mates’ aggression.”When I say players should be free, I don’t mean that you just hit every ball that you see. It’s about keeping your mind free. If you at any time feel like you should play the reverse-sweep but you stop yourself, your’re restricting yourself. There are times when you can get runs from that shot, and when it’s a safe option. It’s about being relaxed. Freedom doesn’t mean swinging at every ball. It’s about playing with confidence. At times I felt our players really lacked patience. A Test is a very valuable thing, and batsmen should know how to play according to the situation. They should know how to handle that freedom.”It was on day four that New Zealand swung the match definitively in their direction, and on day four that Sri Lanka’s bowlers struggled the most, allowing the opposition to score 186 for the loss of just one wicket in 48 overs.”We got the wickets of the first three batsmen quickly, and I think we thought the other wickets would also come easily,” Karunaratne said. “But they batted really well, and the pitch also dried out a bit, and the moisture that was there disappeared. It stopped seaming around. Despite that, I think we could have bowled better, and bowled tighter.”But on the second day New Zealand bowled really well, drying up the runs by bowling on one side of the pitch. Apart from Suranga Lakmal and Dilruwan Perera our bowlers don’t have much experience, but I think they’ve played enough first-class cricket to stack one side of the field and bowl to that.”

Mayank Agarwal has been drafted into the squad for the last two T20Is

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2022Opening batter Ruturaj Gaikwad has been ruled out of India’s ongoing T20I series against Sri Lanka because of a wrist injury, and Mayank Agarwal has replaced him in the squad for the remaining two matches.Gaikwad had been ruled out of the first T20I in Lucknow on Thursday after complaining of pain in his right wrist joint, after which he was examined by the BCCI medical team. He subsequently underwent an MRI scan and consulted a specialist. A BCCI statement on Saturday said that he would be heading to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for further management of his injury. Agarwal, meanwhile, has already linked up with the squad in Dharamsala.It was in July 2021 that Gaikwad made his T20I debut, in Sri Lanka. He played two matches in that series, after which he played the third T20I against West Indies in Kolkata last week. At the toss during the first T20I against Sri Lanka on Thursday, captain Rohit Sharma had said that Gaikwad was in line to play in that game, but the wrist issue had ruled him out.Agarwal, meanwhile, is yet to make his debut for India in the format. He was earlier called up into the ODI squad for the West Indies series in February after four India players had returned positive tests for Covid-19.India’s updated squad for the last two T20Is: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-capt), Avesh Khan, Mayank Agarwal